This course challenges students to think critically about music, and writing about music, in the public sphere. Students explore the relationship between their specialized academic knowledge and their experiences as day-to-day consumers of music. The core material of the course consists of a series of writing and editing exercises for an imagined audience of non-specialists—including reviews of recordings and lectures, program notes for concerts, an interview with a prominent musician—and discussions of controversial issues in academic music. This course addresses a variety of issues, such as how to write about the experience of live performance or how to assess music as a kind of social activism. By translating the technical vocabulary of academic music into a language accessible to the public, students find that they listen and think musically in new and unanticipated ways.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 12

Prerequisites: MUS 100. Open to Juniors and Seniors.

Instructor: Fontijn

Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video

Other Categories: CSPW - Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing

Typical Periods Offered: Spring

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring

Notes: